Album Review | YG – STAY DANGEROUS

This album was released on August 3rd this year (2018). YG’s last album was 2016’s Still Brazy, an album that ended up receiving a lot of praise despite my mixed feelings. I didn’t really see much promo for this album. I’m going in with no expectation. Actually, that’s not true. I just lied. I don’t think I’m gonna like it. I doubt it’ll be really bad though. I didn’t dislike My Krazy Life or Still Brazy. I just thought they were okay. Less than good, but above average. I think I’m gonna feel the same way about this one. The album cover is pretty bad. YG definitely needs to work on that. I don’t think he’s ever had a good album cover. I mean, the MKL cover was decent I guess. This one sucks though.

The first thing I noticed about this project is the fact that him & DJ Mustard are working together again. I know they had kind of a falling out at one point. They work really well together, so I’m kinda glad they made up. The beat on the first track is pretty hard, and the hook’s simplistic yet catchy. The song’s all about how “real niggas” are handicapped. He literally says “it’s 10 times harder for a real nigga” in the hook. The song reminds me a lot of BPT, which was the intro to his first album. I feel like YG tends to follow the same formula for a lot of his music. They all have pretty much the same repetitive hook. I like this intro though. It’s pretty good. The choir sung outro was unnecessary though. The following song is pretty generic.

The beat’s decent. The bass is really strong; almost to the point where it overpowers all the other instruments in the song. It’s a really simplistic beat though. There are probably only a handful of different sounds in the instrumental. The verse from YG wasn’t really enjoyable for me. It wasn’t bad though. His flow was kinda cool I guess. I just wasn’t really impressed by the needlessly lewd lyrics. The Jay 305 feature did absolutely nothing for me. They’re really glorifying ratchetness, which I can’t really say I like. Overall it’s just a bland song. Nothing about it really stands out in a positive way.

HANDGUN is fucking terrible. It honestly sounds like a joke song. The sung hook in which he brags about how he just purchased a firearm sounds awful. It sounds like he was high as hell when he recorded this shit. The repetitive beat is really shitty too. It’s a fast paced track. It has energy. It’s really hard to take seriously though. It’s so bad. A$AP Rocky’s verse is easily the best thing about the song. His flow sounds pretty good. That speech at the end of the song irritated me. That shit was not necessary. The song is fucking wack. The music video was stupid as hell too. It looks like something Padlock Jones would direct.

SUU WHOOP wasn’t good. I liked the way he was flowing, but the beat didn’t impress me, and the high pitched exclaimed ad-libs got on my nerves. The entire song is just YG suckin’ off his gang. I think the whole Blood culture is corny as fuck. Can I say that without getting shot? The fact that I even have to ask that question is part of why I think it’s so dumb. The song is pretty dull to me. I’m not really feelin’ it. The next song, CAN’T GET IN KANADA is super underwhelming. I think I’m gonna renege on that shit I said about DJ Mustard & YG. I’ve never really been a huge fan of DJ Mustard, and I’m starting to remember why. All of his beats sound way too simplistic. It’s boring as hell to be honest. I didn’t like any aspect of the song. It sounds way too generic. It really just goes in one ear and out the other. It’s wack to me. TOO COCKY is another bad song. Y’all don’t understand how hard I cringed when this motherfucker said “I’m too cocky for my shirt.” The whole song is just YG talking about how much of a douchebag he is. He even talks about how he likes putting down girls to make himself feel better in the first verse. The song sucks. I hate the hook. It’s yet another underwhelming generic track. I’m not feelin’ it.

BIG BANK is definitely one of the best songs on the album. However, that’s not really saying much since the album is bland as hell. The production’s bouncy, and the features keep things from getting old too quickly. 2 Chainz was dope. I actually liked Big Sean on this song too, and that’s coming from someone who’s hated the majority of his music. Nicki Minaj’s verse was tolerable. It’s an okay song. I’m never gonna listen to it again, but if it was on the radio I wouldn’t really be in a rush to change the station. Not that I listen to the radio. The music video was nothing special. I didn’t really like POWER. The feature from Ty$ was pretty cool, but the production was boring as hell. I didn’t give a shit about anything YG was saying. He was rapping about how someone’s pussy has power. It’s not memorable at all. Ty$ is definitely the best thing about the song. It’s mediocre. SLAY had a pretty cool beat. The song’s obviously targeting a female audience. The word “slay” is used nowadays to describe the act of looking super attractive, which I think is lame. I hate modern lingo. I didn’t really care for the hook from Quavo. I’ve realized I’m just not a fan of the dude. His style is super boring to me. I’m not really feelin’ the song. It’s not trash though. It’s just another mediocre, boring track. 666 has a pretty cool beat. The hook sucks though. I didn’t really care for the verses either. I’ve seen that YoungBoy Never Broke Again guy’s name around for a few years, but his name is stupid as hell, so I never bothered to check him out. His verse was pretty short. It did nothing for me. The song’s decent. I’m never gonna listen to it again because the hook’s annoying and the only aspect that stood out in a positive way was the production. It’s okay though.

I’m strapped up; I’m too much for you poop butts

That’s one of the first lines from the next track, TOO BRAZY. The beat is more of the same. The entire track is just a glorification of duality. I liked the way YG & Mozzy were trading bars on the last verse. The hook is nothing special. It’s not a bad song. It doesn’t have any replay value though. PUSSY MONEY FAME is a little worse. It’s just a super stale song. I’m not impressed by the beat from Lil Rich, and YG just really isn’t that interesting to listen to as a rapper. If you’ve heard any of YG’s music before you can predict what PUSSY MONEY FAME is gonna sound like just from the title. It’s not good. DEEPER THAN RAP is one of the only songs on the album that sounds different. The beat’s decent, and he’s actually rapping about something other than sex & gang banging. I appreciate him switching things up, but as a song it’s still just not very good. Nothing stands out in a positive way musically. It’s decent though. I could’ve done without the FREE THE HOMIES interlude, but I’m not gonna act like it really bothered me that much. It was just some guy named Tee Cee calling from jail to tell YG some shit about how he’s proud of him and to not get up in the street shit that he glorifies. BOMPTOWN’S FINEST did nothing for me. The slow paced production didn’t impress me, and I didn’t care for YG’s verses. Should I continue to review YG’s work in the future? I feel like I shouldn’t. All of his shit sounds pretty much the same. He’s a really one dimensional artist. The final song is boring. I wasn’t feelin’ it.

This album isn’t good. It doesn’t really stand out as being particularly bad, but I only enjoyed a single song out of 15 tracks. I don’t know how he managed to make every song sound like filler. It’s super uninteresting to listen to. There’s nothing creative or original about any of the material here. It’s mediocre as hell.

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Published by OG Nick Marsh

I am not a music expert. My reviews are completely subjective and should not sway anyone’s opinion on any musical project. I don’t grade albums based on how “good” they are objectively. The score they receive depends on how much I enjoy them personally.
View all posts by OG Nick Marsh